


Pull me closer

by Luffymarra



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Hitting captive, Kidnapping, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-15 04:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17521625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luffymarra/pseuds/Luffymarra
Summary: Jaal receives some distressing news from Evfra.





	Pull me closer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Naeviss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naeviss/gifts).



> Done for the Reverse Mass Effect Big Bang. Naeviss made the wonderful art that inspired me!  
> https://naeviss.tumblr.com/private/182243047023/tumblr_plsckfWo1F1qm0qeh Betaed by the wonderful Aidan!

“Athena, you have an incoming vid call from Evfra.” Athena looked up from her terminal and over toward SAM’s projector in confusion.

“Alright, SAM, I’ll head up in the Meeting room in a moment.”

“Understood, Pathfinder.”

Athena rose from her seat and stretched, before she turned and exited her room. Taking the ladder up to the next deck, she entered the Research room, nodding at Drack and Liam in greeting before heading up the ramp to the Meeting room. Evfra didn’t contact her directly very often, usually he would either email her or call Jaal and have him pass the message along--doing his best to avoid her as much as possible; the human Pathfinder wasn't his favorite person. So, she was very curious about this unscheduled vid call. Reaching the console, she turned on the vid feed to her end of the call.

“Ok, SAM, place the call through.” SAM acknowledged her request, and a moment later an image of Evfra appeared in front of her. “Hello, Evfra. To what do I owe the pleasure? Usually you have Jaal pass on anything that would need direct contact.”

“Pathfinder, this is anything but a pleasure. Is Jaal nearby? I have some news that he needs to hear, and he may need you afterwards.” Evfra’s face betrayed his worry as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“He’s actually outside helping to move some supplies onto the ship. I’ll get SAM to call him in.” Athena said, a bad feeling settling in her gut. “SAM, please tell Jaal I need him in the Meeting room.”

“At once, Pathfinder.” SAM said, and there was silence for a moment. “He is on his way, he should be here in two minutes.”

While they waited, she studied Evfra image. She could tell that he was tense and restless, even as she watched he unfolded and folded his arms several times and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Whatever news he had for Jaal was going to be very bad, and it looked like he would rather do anything than deliver it to him. Finally, Athena heard Jaal’s footsteps on the ramp and turned just as he reached the top. He paused, a look of confusion crossing his face at Evfra’s presence, before he quickly entered the room and walked to Athena’s side.

“Evfra, this is unexpected. Is something the matter?” Jaal asked, glancing over at Athena, who could only shrug--she didn't know what he wanted either. A worried look crossed Jaal’s face, when Evfra sighed and it took a few moments for the resistance leader to meet his eyes.

“I’m afraid so, Jaal. Your true mother, Sahuna, has gone missing.”

“What do you mean she’s missing?!” Jaal exclaimed, his hand slamming down on the console as he leaned toward Evfra’s image.

“She was on a scouting mission and missed a check-in. When I sent more of our people to search for her, they found her shuttle, but no other sign of her.” Evfra explained, his eyes never leaving Jaal’s.

“That…it… There must be something that they’ve missed. Some sign, some clue. What mission was she on?” Jaal’s whole body started to tremble.

“She was scouting reports of possible new Kett activity near a daar on Havarl. Her instructions were to verify the reports, and if the group was small enough, to pick them off. Sahuna is one of our best snipers.” Evfra explained, picking up a datapad from beyond the camera and looking through the data on it. “The other resistance members found no evidence of any Kett where your mother’s shuttle was found, and no sign of any struggle.”

Jaal stood there shaking, seemingly not noticing the hand Athena placed on his shoulder. Clearing her throat, she leaned around Jaal so that Evfra could see her more clearly.

“Evfra, is Sahuna’s shuttle still where you found it on Havarl?” Athena asked, causing both Jaal and Evfra to look at her in surprise. “Maybe between my scanner and SAM, we can spot something that would give us a clue as to what happened.”

Jaal and Evfra shared a look, before Evfra nodded his head in acceptance.

“I’ll send you the Nav point, Pathfinder, and advise the fighters stationed there to expect you. Good luck and Stars guide you both. I hope you'll have good news for us soon, Ryder.”

Evfra nodded toward Jaal and cut the call. A moment later, Athena’s omnitool pinged with an incoming message. She opened it to see a message from Evfra, containing the coordinates that they needed. Shutting the omnitool, she looked up right into Jaal’s frightened eyes.

“Athena…”

She quickly reached out to embrace him, his arms encircling her waist, holding her tightly as he buried his face in her neck, his body shaking with the emotions raging through him.

“We’ll find her, Jaal, and make whoever took her pay big time.” Athena promised, her hand rubbing up and down his back. He nodded and after several deep breaths, pulled back, though he didn’t let go of her.

“SAM, send a message to everyone that we leave in thirty, and to wrap up any pressing business quickly. Tell them once we’re underway, I’ll call a meeting and explain everything.” Athena looked at Jaal, while SAM confirmed her orders, hating the lost look in his eyes. Lifting her hand, she curled it around the back of his head, pulling gently until his forehead touched hers.

“I promise you, Jaal, I won’t stop until we’ve found her. I’ll do everything I can to make sure you don’t lose her.” Athena promised, and she felt one of his arms leave her waist, and his hand curled around her own head.

“Thank you, darling one, but please remember that I cannot lose you either. We must be careful.” Jaal said, tears in his eyes,  voice rough with emotion.

“We will be, Jaal.” Athena pulled back gently and slowly stepped out of his arms. “While I’m giving Kallo the coordinates, will you get our gear ready? I want to be able to armor up and deploy once we reach Havarl. We don’t have any time to waste.”

Jaal nodded his agreement, and Athena reached up to cupped his cheek. He closed his eyes leaning into her touch, then sighed and pulled away. Turning they walked side-by-side down the ramp and separated to see to their tasks.

***********************

Kohkaj looked up from the fire and stood, when a shuttle zoomed over his head. He waved his men down, and watched while Jaal, the Pathfinder, and a Krogan exited and walked toward them.

“Jaal, my friend, how I wish our meeting could be under better terms,” Kohkaj said, bumping arms with Jaal.

“I agree, Kohkaj, it has been far too long. Allow me to introduce the Pathfinder, and the Krogan Drack.” Athena and Drack nodded in greeting, which Kohkaj returned.

“It is wonderful to finally meet you, Pathfinder. Hopefully you can help us find a clue we missed.” Kohkaj said, shouldering his gun and leading the way to Sahuna’s hidden shuttle.

“I’ll do my best. Has anybody been in the shuttle? Has there been any sign of Kett activity since you arrived here?” Athena asked, when they reached the ship.

“Just myself. I wanted to make sure that she wasn’t in the ship, hurt and that there were no signs of foul play. I found no signs of anything wrong with the ship, or the surrounding area. There has also been no sign of any Kett since we arrived.” Kohkaj said.

“I need to scan you, so that I can separate your signature from Sahuna’s or any other in the craft.” Receiving a nod from Kohkaj, she quickly scanned him and turned to enter the door, heading first for the cockpit.

“Do you think she will be able to find anything, my friend?” Kohkaj asked, coming to stand by Jaal.

“I have to believe so, Kohkaj. The very thought of the alternative…that one day a Kett I face could have once been…” Jaal closed his eyes and shook his head, his face morphing into a mask of anguish. Kohkaj nodded his understanding and reached out to clasp Jaal’s shoulder in support. A moment later, Athena exited the shuttle, concern crossing her face when she caught sight of Jaal’s face. She stepped toward him, but stopped when he shook his head, and several shaky breaths later, he had collected himself. “What did you find, Athena?”

“I have her signature. From what SAM can determine from my scanner, it looks like on your mother and Kohkaj have been in the ship recently.” Athena explained, coming to stand with them. “Kohkaj, where did the reports place the Kett activity? Maybe we can find more of Sahuna’s signature heading toward that area.”

Kohkaj pointed to the east and Athena activated her scanner, then walked slowly in that direction scanning the ground for clues. A mile from the landing site, they came to the base of an incline and her scanner picked up traces of Jaal’s mother going up. The group quickly followed the path up, stopping halfway up when her omnitool detected several unknown signatures. Sharing worried looks, the group continued up, the traces becoming fresher and fresher. At the top of the incline they found a cliff that showed signs of a struggle. Spreading out to search the area--they'd cover more area rhat way, Athena pulled out a sniper rifle hidden inside a bush; the sight of it made Jaal gasp and rush over, reaching out to take it.

“This is my mother’s rifle! It was a gift from my older sister, mother never would have left it behind if she could help it!” Jaal exclaimed, hugging the rifle to his chest, his eyes wildly scouring the area trying to find any other hints of his mother. Athena walked over to the blood on the ground scanning it and the ground surrounding it.

“Jaal, I’ve scanned the blood and area around it. There isn’t even a hint of a Kett presence here, only angaran DNA. Thankfully the blood isn’t your mother’s, but it begs the question of who was out here with her.” Athena stated, moving back to a shaking Jaal’s side.

“Jaal! Pathfinder!” Kohkaj yelled, as he turned and ran over to them with something in his hands. “This is a broken Roekaar pistol.”

“The Roekaar?! They took my true-mother? Why? I don’t understand what Akksul would hope to gain from this,” Jaal said, his face twisting in confusion.

“Jaal, we need to get back to the Tempest and contact the Moshae. If anyone can get a hold of him and convince him to return your mother, it will be her.” Athena murmured, her arm wrapping around his shoulders.

“I hope you are right, darling one. Let us return to the ship. Thank you for your help, Kohkaj,” Jaal said, bumping arms with the other angaran in farewell. As they walked back to ship, Jaal hugged his mother’s rifle tightly to his chest.

****************************************

Jaal paced around the tech lab, his body tense with several battling emotions and his fight against his exhaustion. They had contacted the Moshae two days ago to negotiate the release of his mother and so far, there had been no news of her success or failure.

He stopped and picked one of his projects off the workbench, but immediately let it drop back onto the surface, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. Leaning on the bench, he let his head drop and his mouth moved in silent prayer, one of many he had uttered in the last two days. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, his head jerked up and around meeting the worried eyes of Athena.

Turning to face her, he pressed his forehead to hers, a shaky, tired exhale escaping him as her arms came up to hug him closer to her.

“ _Jaal,_ ” Athena cooed, her voice soft, low and husky as it was when it was only the two of them. “You need to rest.” When he started to shake his head, she pressed on. “You haven’t slept in two days, not since we found your mother’s gun. I know you’re worried, so am I, but you won’t be able to help her if you’re about to fall over in exhaustion.”

“You’re right, darling one, but I just…” Jaal’s arms came up and wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him, moving his head to bury it in her neck. “I don’t know if I can sleep. What if my mother is…”

“Shhh, we’ll find her, _Jaal_. All of our friends have contacted everyone we know, and they are on alert to help us the minute the Moshae contacts us with news.” Athena pulled Jaal’s head up and took his face into her hands. “Come lay in bed with me. We’ll rest for a little while, and SAM will alert us the minute there is any word. Right, SAM?”

“Of course, Athena.”

“I…I…” Jaal sighed and nodded his head in agreement. “You are right, darling one. You will stay with me?”

“Of course, _Jaal_. Come on.”

Pulling away, Athena took his hand and squeezed it, before they made their way to their shared room. Entering, she turned the lights down until only the barest hint of illumination covered the room, while Jaal went to lay on the bed. Athena climbed onto the other side, Jaal reaching out and wrapping his arms around her waist, tugging until they were pressed together in the middle of the bed. Burying his head into her chest, his arms moved to her shoulder and waist and tightened as he began to shake.

Athena’s arms came up to cradle his head and shoulder, her head lowering to rest on his, while she could feel her shirt growing wet. Athena didn’t say anything, her eyes closing in sadness, and her arms holding him, until his shaking stopped, and his breathing evened out in sleep. Even in sleep he wasn't at peace: his brow furrowed and hands clenched in the fabric of her shirt. Kissing his forehead, she pressed her cheek to the top of his head before closing her own eyes to rest.

**************************************

“Athena, you have an incoming message from Akksul. He wishes to speak with both you and Jaal.” Athena blinked awake, and it took seeing Jaal still asleep next to her to realize that SAM had used their private channel to wake her. Giving a small yawn and rubbing the sleep from her eyes she gently nodded her head.

“Thank you, SAM, we’ll be there in a few moments.” She waited until SAM had acknowledged her, then turned back to Jaal and kissed the top of his head.

“ _Jaal_ . Wake up, _Jaal_. Akksul is sending us a vid call. He wants to speak with both of us,” Athena said, gently running her hand over his head. She felt him shift, his arms tightened around her, and he hummed sleepily, his eyes opening to mere silts.

“ _Jaal_ , Akksul is contacting us, you need to wake up.” Athena could tell the moment the news processed, because his eyes snapped open and he tried to jump out of bed. He only stopped when she held on to him, stopping him from moving.

“Athena…” Jaal started but stopped when she shook her head at him.

“Take a moment, Jaal. You need to be fully awake and at your best to deal with Akksul. So, wait.” Athena explained, one of her hands moving to cup his cheek, her thumb gently stroking it, his body once more trembling with emotions.

For a moment, Jaal looked like he would argue, then he closed his eyes and nodded, pulling her down the bed a bit so that his forehead could rest firmly against hers. Slowly his shaking eased, and after a few minutes, he pulled away from her, a determined look on his face. Nodding to each other, they reluctantly let go of one another and climbed out of the bed. They used a small basin in their room to clean their faces of any signs of sleep, then left the room and headed for the Meeting Center.

They had decided two days ago, that Jaal would be the one to deal with Akksul, so while he opened the video feed, Athena stood only close enough to be picked up, but not be the first person that Akksul would see.

“Akksul,” Jaal greeted the image as it appeared on the other side of the table.

“Jaal, Pathfinder,” Akksul nodded to each of them before focusing on Jaal. “Jaal, you should know that there were certain people I told my fighters they were not to hurt. One of them was your true-mother.”

“If that is true, then give my mother back, Akksul!” Jaal demanded, his hands balled into fists that tightened when the other shook his head.

“I wish I could, Jaal,” Akksul sighed, his hand coming up to rub between his eyes. “You can’t imagine my surprise when the Moshae contacted me. Since our encounter, I have had my people focusing on the Kett, and the very worst of the Milky Way groups.” Akksul looked at Athena while he said that last part, and she gave a grudging nod of acceptance to the news.

“So, it shocked me to be told that some of my people had apparently taken your true-mother. I did find the group, and tried to talk them into releasing her, but they will not listen to my orders. They are determined to stop the source of the alien expansion.” His gaze once more landed on Athena and Jaal moved in front of her blocking her from the other’s sight.

“You can’t be serious!” Jaal yelled, his face twisted in fury. “Do they not know the good that Athena has done? Saving the Moshae, helping make uninhabitable planets habitable, the pieces of our past she has brought back to us!”

“Do you think I don’t know this, Jaal!” Akksul shouted, while throwing his arms up in frustration. The unexpected display shocked Jaal into silence, and they watched for several minutes as Akksul paced into and out of the camera’s view, obviously trying to calm himself down. Finally, he stopped, staring at the two of them, his arms crossed over his chest and his face deadly serious. “The rogue group is made up of some of the oldest members of the Roekaar. They don’t care what good she has done. They are stubborn, desperate, and they will not be dissuaded. When I tried to talk to them, they cut me off and sent a video for you to me. I’ve watched it, and you will not like what it contains.”

 

Akksul shifted his weight from side to side in agitation.

“Please play it,” Jaal said, and watched the other nod before his image was replaced with an image of his mother and an unknown Angaran.

“Jaal Ama Darav, we have someone that you want back. We will…”

“Jaal, don’t lis--” Sahuna was cut off when the male Angara backhanded her across the face, knocking her to the floor. He kicked her once in the stomach, drawing a pained cry from her, then turned back to the camera, leaving her moaning on the ground behind him.

“Bring us the human pathfinder, Darav. If you don’t, well,” He pulled a shotgun off his back and pointed it at Sahuna’s head. “I’m sure you can guess what will happen to your true-mother. Have Akksul contact us, and we will send you the meeting point. Until then, Darav.”

The message cut out and Jaal shouted in fury, both hands slamming down on the control panel, a string of words--that didn’t translate, but Athena guessed were angaran swear words--flowed from his mouth. Athena and Akksul shared a look and both were silent, until Jaal finally ran out of steam and dropped to his knees, breathing hard and his head resting on the meeting table.

“Akksul, set up the exchange for us.” Athena ignored the way Jaal’s head snapped up and the hand that gripped hers in fear. “Though if there is any way you can influence them to make it on Kadara, I would be grateful.” Athena said, her hand squeezing Jaal’s shaking one.

“There is a place that the Roekaar have used before, I will see if I can convince them to use it. I take this to mean you have a plan, Pathfinder?” Akksul asked, and Athena nodded in return. “Then Stars guild you, Pathfinder...they will not be missed.”

Athena looked surprised by this, but she nodded once and cut the call once Akksul’s image faded away. Then turning, she dropped down to her knees and pulled Jaal into a hug, which he returned desperately.

“Darling one, you cannot do this! I will not take the risk of losing you both.”

Athena pulled out of the hug, and frame his face with her hands

“Jaal, do you trust me?”

“With everything I have.” He swore, hands coming up to cover hers.

“Then trust that I have a plan and that we'll both come back to you. Can you do that?” Jaal stared into her eyes for a long moment, before he nodded his head, and leaned in to pull her into a desperate kiss. Athena returned the kiss, but soon pulled away completely, standing and pulling him to his feet before they both left the meeting center. Athena had a lot of calls to make.

******************************************

Jaal stood tensely next to Athena watching as a shuttle set down on the other side of the tiny valley. They continued to stare while four figures left the shuttle and approached where they were standing. One of them was limping badly and being half dragged across the ground. Athena reached up and placed a hand on Jaal’s arm, when they finally realized that the limping figure was Sahuna. The group stopped near the two of them, and they could see that his mother was cut up and bruised but was even now glaring at the male holding her.

“Alright here’s the deal; you let Jaal come over, give him his true-mother, and let them leave by the path behind us, **unhindered** , and you have my word that I will stand right here. You can even keep your weapons trained on me--as you can see I am unarmed--if it will make you feel better.” Athena offered, ignoring the way that Jaal’s hands clenched. He had already made it plain that he didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone but knew that there was no other choice if they were to rescue his mother. She could take care of herself, he knew that, but it didn't make things any easier.

“How do we know that you’re not trying to trick us?” The leader asked, distrust written across his face plain as day.

“I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of stories about me. Have I ever gone against my word once I’ve given it?” Athena asked, crossing her arm across her chest in annoyance.

“Fine. Come get your mother, Darav.” The leader commanded, shoving Sahuna toward Jaal, who sprung forward to catch her before she could fall. Jaal took his mother’s arm over his shoulders and they slowly walked toward the small path. Just before he was out of sight, he turned his head and cast one last look at Athena, seeing her surrounded and in the process of being tied up, before the rocks blocked his view completely.

“Jaal, we can’t leave her like that!” Sahuna said, trying to tug her arm out of his hold and go back the way they had come.

“Athena asked me to trust her, mother, and trust her I will.” Jaal said, not looking at his mother, so that she couldn’t see his worry on his face.

“I agree, there is no better person to trust!”

Both Jaal and Sahuna jumped in surprise when Reyes’ voice came from the shadows to their left. He quickly stepped out of his hiding place, coming to walk on her other side and reached out to help support her.

“Shena, what are you doing here?!” Sahuna asked, her arm going around his shoulders.

“It’s all part of Athena’s plan. Come on, we’ll get you out of here and to safety.” Reyes said, guiding them up the path and down a fork to their left.

“Shena, I am not leaving Athena here on her own! She is risking everything for me, so I’m staying and helping to come up with a new plan that doesn’t involve her possible death.” Sahuna tightened her hold on Jaal, when he made a pained noise at her words

“Athena was right when she predicted that you wouldn’t leave without her. Good thing she planned for that,” Reyes laughed and pointed to the shuttle they had just reached, which opened to show Evfra, Liam, and Drack fully armored waiting inside. Liam held up Sahuna’s sniper rifle, while Evfra moved forward to help her inside.

“SAM is tracking Athena’s position as we speak. All I ask, if there is fighting, is that you don’t shoot the two Angaran with white stripes down the front and back of their armor. They are two of my people that I sent in to both help Athena and to leave a surprise for the Roekaar,” Ryes explained, a smirk spreading across his face at the last part.

The others nodded in agreement, and Liam moved to hand Sahuna her rifle, while the shuttle door closed, and it took off into the air. They soon felt the shuttle stop but could feel that it remained hovering in the air. They all looked at Reyes, who had his omnitool open checking on something.

“Athena asked that we not move in until SAM gave the signal, but we are very close to her signals location now.”

They waited in tense silence, each one checking over their gear again and again. Jaal paced the shuttle floor in agitation, until there was a beeping from Reyes’ omnitool.

“Reyes, the Pathfinder requests that you and the others create a very noisy distraction outside of the building.” SAM’s voice came over the com, and Reyes replied in the affirmative, before looking back at the others.

“About time we got some action! Drop me in the middle of the base, I’ll give you a distraction,” Drack growled, bouncing on his toes.

“Count me in!” Liam called, Jaal nodding while coming to step beside them.

“We’ll provide support from the air,” Evfra said, and Sahuna readied her gun.

Reyes nodded and stood to give orders to the pilot in the cockpit. They felt the shuttle swiftly move forward, and Drack, Liam, and Jaal took up positions at the door. They could hear shooting start and the ship rocked from side to side, before the door opened, and the shuttle slowed just enough for the three males to jump down into the middle of the enemy platform.

Sahuna immediately moved to sit up against the edge of the doorway, while Evfra took up point on the other side. The shuttle swung back around, and she took out an Angara coming up behind Liam, before blinking in surprise to see several running past him, being chased by Drack. The ship settled at a distance, where it would be hard for the enemy to land a hit, but her sniper rifle could still pick people off.

Several minutes later, a door burst open and Athena backed out, her rifle blazing as she covered the escape of the two undercover Angaran. Sahuna sighed in relief and smiled when Jaal was quickly by her side, followed closely by Liam and Drack. The shuttle moved closer and Reyes joined Sahuna and Evfra in laying down heavy cover fire for the retreating party. They hovered near the ground and Athena and the others quickly jumped in.

“Book it! The place is about to blow!” Athena yelled, and the ship quickly accelerated away, the door closing and blocking out the shots still coming their way. A few seconds later, they heard an explosion and the shuttle rocked with the shock wave. They all sighed in relief and Jaal took Athena by the shoulders, then gently moved his hand to hover over a bruise forming on her face.

“I’ll be fine, Jaal, you don’t need to worry,” Athena assured him, reaching up to take his hand in hers and squeeze it. She let go and knelt by a concerned looking Sahuna, who reached out and dragged Athena into a tight hug.

“Thank you for coming for me, Athena. Jaal is a very lucky man, hopefully he realizes this too.” Athena huffed a laugh, while returning the hug, and Jaal groaned in the background in embarrassment, the others beginning to rib him about it. Athena broke the hug and smiling settle down next to Sahuna, while the shuttle headed back to the port.


End file.
